Safety appliance for railway-switches.



A. L. BISHOP & T, F. KIDD. SAFETYAPPLIANGE FOR RAILWAY SWITCHES.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 6, 1908.

Patented Feb. 9, 1909.

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APPLICATION FILED MAY 6, 1908.'

Patented Feb. 9, 1909.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ARTHUR L. BISHOP AND THEODORE F. KIDD, OF PETERSBURG, VIRGINIA.

SAFETY APPLIANCE FOR RAILWAY-SWITCHES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 9, 1909.

Application filed May 6, 1908. Serial No. 431,181.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, ARTHUR L. BISHOP and THEODORE F. KIDD, citizens ofthe United States, residing at Petersburg, in the county of Dinwiddieand State of Virginia, have invented new and useful Improvements inSafety Appliances for Railway-Switches, of which the following is aspecification.

Our present invention relates to improvements in appliances forpreventing wrecks or collisions at railway switches, and it has for itsobject primarily to provide means for preventing a switchman or otheroperative from leaving a switch without having first set the switch inthe proper position, thereby avoiding thepossibility of a wreck becauseof the switchman or other operative having left the switch while thelatter was set for a siding.

More specifically, the invention consists in providing a cage or housingfor the switchstand or other part which must be operated in order to setthe switch, the cage or hous ing having a door or other part which mustbe opened or operated to permit the exit of the switch operator from thecage or housing, and as this door or part is so connected to theswitchstand that it will stand in a closed position or in such aposition as to prevent exit of the switch operator while the switch isset for the siding, it will be impossible for the switch operator toleave the cage or housing until after the switch has been properly setfor the main track.

To these and other ends, the invention consists in certain improvements,and combinations and arrangements of parts, all as will be hereinaftermore fully described, the novel features being pointed out particularlyin the claims at the end of the specification.

In the accompanying drawing: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a railwayswitch equipped with a safety appliance constructed in accordance withour present invention, the door of the housing being shown in openposition and the switch set for the main track; Fig. 2 is a top planview of the switch and safety appliance; Fig. 3 is a sectional viewshowing the operative connection between the vertical staff of theswitchstand and the movable rail of the switch; Fig. 4 is also a planview showing the door of the cage or housing in closed position and theswitch set for the side track; and Fig. 5 represents a verticalsectional view through the cage or housing, the door being shown inclosed position.

Similar parts are designated by the same reference characters in theseveral views.

Safety appliances constructed in accordance with our present inventionare capable of use generally in connection with railway switches ofvarious kinds, and are adapted for use in various connections, theinvention being especially applicable to the switches of side tracks.According to the present manner of operating trains, the local orfreight trains are usually side-tracked in order to permit the passageof a through or express train following it, it being necessary for oneof the employees to throw the switch for the side track and after thetrain has passed upon the siding, it is necessary to replace the switchfor the main track. It sometimes happens through forgetfulness ornegligence that the employee fails to reset the switch for the maintrack, and such a failure usually results in a rear end collisionbetween the two trains, or a wreck at the switch. According to thepresent invention, it is impossible for the employee to leave the switchwithout having first reset the switch for the main track.

In the present instance, we have shown one particular embodiment of ourinvention which is capable of use in connect-ion with switches ofvarious forms, it comprising in the present instance a pair of movableswitch rails 1, the rails 2 for the side track and the rails 3 for themain track, the movable switch rails being connected by a rod 4 which ispivotally connected at 5 to an operating rod 6. In the present instance,a switchstand of ordinary form is provided for operating the switch,this switchstand comprising a stationary frame or casing 7 which issuitably fixed in position and provided with a vertical staff 8, thelower end of which is provided with a crank 9 to which the outer end ofthe operating rod 6 is attached. The vertical staff is provided with alever 10 by means of which it may be rotated, a rotation of the staff inone direction causing the switch to be set for the main track, while arotation in the opposite direction will set the switch for the sidetrack in the usual manner. The upper end of the vertical switch staff isprovided with a coupling 11 by means of which a signal standard 12 isconnected to rotate therewith, this signal standard being adapted tocarry the usual switch signals, such as the semaphore blades or theusual colored lamp.

Surrounding the switchstand is a cage or housing 13 which may be of anysuitable construction and shape, it being preferably; of a size toconveniently accommodate the, switch operator, an opening being providedin a suitable part of the cage or housing which is controlled by a dooror other part 14 which, when in an open position, will permit the exitof the switch operator from the cage or housing. It generally preferableto provide a door which is connected to the cage or housing by means ofhinges 15 which permit the door to swing on vertical axis. This door isso connected to the switch staff that it will be retained in a closedposition to prevent the exit of the switch operator from the cage 'orhousing while the switch is set for the side track, and the resetting'of the switch for the main track will automatically open the door andpermit the exit of the switch operator. In the present instance, thedoor is provided preferably at its upper edge with a cam track, thatshown in the present instance comprising a plate of metal having ahorizontally extending strip 16 projectin'g outwardly over the top edgeof the door and having a slot 17 formed therein which extendshorizontally and parallel to the Vertical plane of the door, adown-turned portion 18 being formed on the inner edge of the horizontalstrip and is adapted to overlap the inner side of the door and to bebolted or otherwise secured thereto. A crank 19 is mounted to turn Iwith the vertical switch staff, this crank being attached in the presentinstance to a portion of the signal standard 12 at a point above the topof the cage or housing, and the outer end of this crank is provided witha pin or projection 20 which is adapted to operate in the longitudinalslot of the cam track on the top of the door, a nut or other equivalentdevice being preferably secured to the lower end of this pin tocooperate with the under side of the cam track and thus preventdisengagement between it and the operating pin on the crank. The ends ofthe operating crank preferably extend at right angles to one another, asshown in Figs. '2 and 4, these ends being connected by a curvedintermediate portion.

The operating crank is so connected to the I switch staff that theoperating pin therein will occupy a position in that end of the slot 17adjacent to the free edge of the 'door' while the switch is set for theside track, and when the switch is set for the main track, thisoperating pin will occupy a position toward the opposite "end of theslot, as 1 shown in Figs. 1 and '2. Ordinarily, the: switch will be setfor the main track, and? when the switch is in this position, the doorwill stand in an open position, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. In order toset the switch for the side track, it will be necessary for the employeeto enter the cage or housing, and in turning the switch staff by meansof the lever 10 to set the switch for the side track, the operatingcrank 19 which is rotatable with the switch staff will turn also,causing the pin on the free end thereof to traverse the horizontal slotof the cam track in a direction from the hinged edge of the door towardthe free edge thereof, and when the switch has been fully thrown for theside track, the door will occupy a closed position, thereby preventingexit of the employee from the housing. After the train has been shiftedto the side track, the employee within the housing may then return theswitch to its initial position by rotating the switch staff in a reversedirection, and when the switch has been fully reset for, the main track,the door of the housing will stand in an open position, thus permittingthe employee to leave the switch. As the employee will be confinedwithin the housing while the switch remains set for the side track, itwill be obvious that the possibility of the employee leaving the switchwithout properly resetting it is eliminated.

If so desired, the door of the cage or boneing may be utilized as asignal to the engineer on an approaching train, the door in the presentinstance standing in an open position or a position transversely of thetrack when the switch is set for the main track, and to this end, it maybe painted white or otherwise so as to render it more readily visible asa signal for a clear track.

We claim as our invention 1. A safety appliance for railway switchescomprising a stationary cage having 'a door pivoted to swing inwardlyand outwardly relatively thereto for controlling exit from the cage, aswitch operating part inclosed within and accessible for operation fromthe interior only of said cage, and a direct operative connectionbetween said switch operating part and said door comprising an armrigidly attached to said part and operatively connected to the door forretaining the latter in closed position until the switch operating partis reset to a predetermined position. i

2. A safety appliance for railway switches comprising a rotatable switchstaff having an operating part thereon, a stationary housing inclosingthe operating part of said staff -and having a door for controlling theexit therefrom, and a direct operative connection between said staff anddoor involving a part rigidly attached at one end to said staff andslidingly connected at its other end to the door for retaining thelatter in closed position until the switch has been reset to apredetermined position, and for moving said door into an open positiontransverse to the direction of the track to serve as a signal.

3. A safety appliance for railway switches comprising a rotatable switchstafl having an operating part thereon, a stationary housing inclosingthe operating part on said staff and having a door pivoted at one sidethereof, an operating crank connected to rotate with said staff, and apart on said door having a sliding connection with said crank forcausing opening and closing movements of the door according to thedirection of rotation of the staff.

4. A safety appliance for railway switches comprising a verticalrotatable switch staff having an operating part thereon, a stationaryhousing inclosing the operating part on said staff and having a doorpivoted at one side thereof, a crank arranged above the top of thehousing and connected to turn with said staff, the outer end of saidcrank having an operating pin, and a cam track secured to the top edgeof said door and hav ing a horizontal slot to slidingly receive theoperating pin on said crank whereby the door will be opened or closedaccording to the direction of rotation of the switch staff.

5. A safety appliance for railway switches comprising a stationaryhousing having a door pivoted to open or close an opening in one sidethereof, a vertically arranged rotatable switch staff having anoperating part accessible for operation only from the interior of saidhousing, a signal standard coupled to the upper end of said staff andadapted to support a signal above the top of the housing, a crankconnected to rotate with the staff and arranged above the top of thehousing, and a cam track extending from the pivoted to the free edge ofthe door and arranged to cooperate with the free end of said crankduring the rotation of the switch staff to open or close said door.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands in presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

ARTHUR L. BISHOP. THEODORE F. KIDD.

Witnesses:

CARRIE EVANS, R. G. SPRALTY.

